Discovery’s
crew – including the first crew of the International Space Station
now returning home after four and a half months in orbit – bids
farewell to the second station crew tonight, undocking the shuttle from
the outpost and preparing for a return to Earth Tuesday.

The hatches between
the shuttle and station were to be closed for a final time at about
7:30 tonight, leaving Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and his
Flight Engineers, astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms, aboard the complex.
The second crew is beginning a four-month stay aboard the station that
will see the complex continue to grow in research capability and self-sufficiency
as a robotic arm, more experiments and a new airlock are attached on
future missions.

The first station
expedition crew – led by Commander Bill Shepherd with Pilot Yuri
Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev – is returning home
after having brought the complex to life during its stay. The Expedition
One crew docked to an uninhabited station that was about half the size
and had only a fraction of the capability of the orbiting science complex
and permanent home they are departing. The crews bid one another farewell
about an hour before the hatch closing.

“We are on
a true space ‘ship’ now, making her way above any Earthly
boundary,” Shepherd said as he handed command to Usachev.

“This ship
was not built in a safe harbor but on the high seas,” Discovery
Commander Jim Wetherbee added.

During the almost
nine days Discovery has been docked at the station, the crews unloaded
almost five tons of experiments and equipment and repacked almost a
ton of returning items. Discovery’s mission also has set the stage
for the continued expansion of the station when a Canadian robotic arm
is launched aboard the shuttle Endeavour next month. Pilot Jim Kelly
will be at the shuttle’s helm as Discovery undocks from the station
tonight, planned to occur at 10:32 p.m. Kelly will guide Discovery in
an hour-long station flyaround where he will circle the station one
and a quarter times, 450 feet away, while the crew records television
and photos of the exterior.

The next Mission
Control Center status report will be issued early Monday morning.

###

NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically
by sending an Internet electronic mail message to majordomo@listserver.jsc.nasa.gov.
In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type
"subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the e-mail address that
sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The
system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription.
Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail.